Support arrangements for display devices are designed in numerous variations and some of these provide the possibility of adjusting the position of the display, e.g. for tilting, swiveling etc. of the screen. However, these prior art arrangements are often very complicated and suffer from a number of drawbacks.
An example of such an arrangement is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,715,138 A. This document relates to an apparatus providing a display with tilting and rotating movements. This apparatus comprises a first housing placed behind the display panel and a second housing placed beneath the panel and the first housing. The first housing contains a number of mechanical elements, e.g. axles, gears, pinions etc. arranged for providing tilting movements of the display supported by means of a pair of brackets carried by a rod. These brackets may be rotated by means of a number of gears, a pinion rack and a pinion knob, i.e. when the pinion knob is turned by hand, the tilt angle of the display panel may be adjusted. Thus, it should be understood that in order to adjust the tilt angle from e.g. a relatively large downwards tilt to e.g. a relatively large upwards tilt, the user will have to turn the pinion knob a large number of revolutions, which makes such adjustments time-consuming. Further, this prior art mechanism suffers from the drawback that the display panel is not suspended in a balanced arrangement as the display panel is rotated in relation to the rod placed behind the panel. Thus, the mass and the center of gravity of the panel are displaced when adjusting the tilt angle, whereby force is required to perform a displacement upwards, especially if the panel in question is of a relatively large size. Further, it should be understood that special measures may be required to prevent the panel from dropping downwards if the mass of the display panel is relatively large.
A self-balancing mounting system for a flat panel display is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,402,109 B1. This prior art system is relatively large and complicated as it comprises a first bracket for mounting to a wall, a second bracket for mounting the display panel, a pair of minor arms, a pair of major arms and connecting arms. These elements are connected pivotally and/or in a sliding connection. A display panel mounted on the second bracket may be placed in a range of positions, among which one is a state of equilibrium. The panel will remain in the other positions since any biasing force will be offset by friction inherent in the system in these positions.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,427,243 A describes a display station tilt mechanism for a cathode-ray tube (CRT) viewing screen. The screen is secured by a hinge to a base for tilting from a vertical position, in which it is substantially balanced, through positions of progressively increased tilt, in which the weight of the tube and associated parts becomes progressively displaced and the screen becomes more unbalanced. In order to compensate for this unbalance, an arrangement comprising a camming bracket and a spring is arranged, whereby the viewing screen is counterbalanced in all possible positions.
Further, display panel support arrangements featuring support arms and tilt mechanisms are known for mounting to a wall or for support in relation to a base stand. Examples of such prior art systems are described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,019,332 A and WO 01/35796 A1. However, such systems all rely on friction mechanisms and/or spring mechanisms, e.g. mechanical springs, gas springs etc., in order to keep the display device in a balanced state. Therefore, these systems are sensitive to variations in load, e.g. the weight of a display panel, and they may thus only be used in connection with a display having a specific weight or they may require adjustment when being used in connection with a display panel having a weight outside a predetermined weight range.
Finally, U.S. Pat. No. 4,561,620 A describes a tiltable cathode-ray tube display device structure for adjusting the tilt angle of a display unit placed immediately on a tray support, e.g. a table stand. The tray support and the display unit feature curved guiding means, and the tray support and the display unit may be displaced in relation to each other by means of a gear mechanism. The radius of curvature of the curved guiding means corresponds to the distance from the curved guiding means to the center of gravity, and the center of gravity is located above the curved guiding means. Thus, the movement of the center of gravity is minimized and the display unit will remain substantially in balance with the tilt range. However, this device is dedicated to a cathode-ray display arrangement and requires a support tray located immediately under the display unit.
It is an objective of the invention to provide an improved tilt mechanism or arrangement.
It is a further objective of the invention to provide a tilt mechanism or arrangement which does not suffer from the drawbacks related to the prior art techniques.
It is also an objective of the invention to provide a tilt system suitable for a multitude of devices.
In particular, it is an objective of the invention to provide a tilt system suitable for display devices such as viewing screens, information systems, computer screens, monitoring and/or television screens etc., and particularly flat panel screens such as liquid crystal displays (LCD), thin film transistor (TFT) displays, plasma display panels (PDP) or the like.
It is a further objective of the invention to provide such a system or mechanism with a balanced arrangement without the use of special means, e.g. counterbalancing means such as springs etc.
It is also an objective of the invention to provide a versatile system or mechanism which may be utilized in connection with a wide range of applications and in connection with a wall mount, a floor stand, a table stand etc.
It is a further objective of the invention to provide a system or mechanism which may be designed in a compact manner and which may readily be integrated in the device, e.g. the display panel and/or its support.
These and other objectives are achieved by the invention as explained in the following.